Mount Madison Lookout

Status: Former Lookout
Elevation: 5,366 feet
Prominence: 466
State: New Hampshire
County: Coos
AT Access: Alternate route up and over on old AT with 500 gain.
Mile Marker: 1867.6

In 1912, this location was used for two or three years in the early days of the lookout service because the Appalachian Mountain Club maintained a caretaker at the Madison Hut, where there was a telephone connected to the valley. The Forestry Commission paid the Club a small sum to have the caretaker run up to the summit from time to time. The station was located at the summit cairn as shown in the photo. Since this is a very high summit which was often in the clouds, visibility was often poor.

AMCs original Madison Spring Hut was built in 1888 just 12 years after the club was founded in 1876, the oldest hut in the nation.

Mount Madison is the northernmost peak in the Presidentials. Like most of the range, the summit is above tree line.

Said to be the summit cairn during the time it was being used for observations.

1893 map shoing the AMC Hut below the summit in the saddle

Showing the route of the Appalachian Trail as it skirts the side of Mount Madison. An alternate route to summit goes up and over.

Rebuilt Madison Springs Hut

Some old and new images of the Madison Springs Hut